Commander Croft is a honorable man who has been through rough situations that have put him at odds with that which he served. Before being court-martialed by the Colonial Military, he served as commander of an ice garrison on Kalpa, having the advanced skills of a demolition and mountaineering expert. He was married to Leda, who apparently had a love/hate relationship with him; this, according to her, "invites trouble".
He was sentenced to the Prison Barge, apparently before it joined the Fleet, for not handing over the spoils of a Cylon-held platinum mine within his sphere of influence. He was later polled from the Galactica's computer mainframe for a mission on ice planet Arcta to destroy the deadly Ravishol Pulsar. In return, Adama promised a pardon of all crimes committed before their acceptance of the mission.
During the climb to the mountain's top, where a vent to the pulsar was located, he saved the life of Captain Apollo from the scheming Wolfe and made sure that the mission was successful. This was in spite of harsh and biting comments from Leda, who asked how he could help the very people that imprisoned him. To Croft, despite his wrong, he was willing to sacrifice his life as he could not bear to kill his own, unlike Wolfe.
Although their mission was a success, it cost the life of his wife, Leda, who saved him from the armed Command Centurion Vulpa. (The Gun on Ice Planet Zero) His future whereabouts are unmentioned for the remainder of the series.
Portrayed by Roy Thinnes
Notes[edit]
Fans tend to refer to Croft as a colonel, as opposed to a commander (as the Gun on Ice Planet Zero script indicates). However, speaking of circumstances from this episode, it seems he acts more of a colonel rather than a commander (at least of Adama's, Cain's or Kronus' statures). Indeed, he might very well be a colonel in the equivalent of the Colonial navy, thus the commander is probably just a Colonial Warrior's ranking.
A scene was filmed that includes Croft being referred to by the rank of colonel. It is included on the Complete Series DVD.